


Wizards and Weddings

by eiyria



Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24235930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eiyria/pseuds/eiyria
Summary: Post Skin GameHarry receives a wedding invitation in the mail from Elaine. Having heard nothing about this before, he immediately goes on the alert and tries to uproot whatever dark plan has its sights set on the bride-to-be.
Relationships: Harry Dresden/Karrin Murphy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Wizards and Weddings

"Harry?"   
  
I heard Murphy's voice call out to me. She sounded concerned. 

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked.

I swallowed. My mouth felt dry and my mind felt fuzzy. "Karrin," I murmured, my mouth tumbling over the words. I managed to make my head move, and turned it to look at her from my perch on the couch. "When did you get home?"

I was sitting on her living room couch, hunched over a messy pile of mail sitting on a cute coffee table, which must have belonged to her grandmother. It was my mail. Murphy had been inadvertently collecting it for me. Being dead and then living on a scary remote island didn't exactly encourage reliable deliveries. And up until recently I hadn't had a reliable address. As a result, my Paranet contacts and other 3rd parties had taken to forwarding my postage to Murphy. Since we were an item, I was over at her house enough that neither of us had spent any effort rectifying the mail situation. 

"Just a while ago," her voice hitched, "It was like you were frozen, you didn't even notice when I came in." She let out a breath and the tension went out of her, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," I said, shaking off the remaining fuzzy feeling from my head, "Yeah, yeah. I'm alright." I passed her back the white card I'd been staring at. "Take a look for yourself."

I watched her read it. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she looked back at me, with a rare goofy smile on her face. "Oh."

I averted my eyes, and rubbed my temple in a nervous tick, "Apparently Elaine is getting married."  
Murphy chuckled softly, "From your reaction I kind of thought something bad had happened. In comparison, this is great news."  
I felt my brows furrow in thought, and leaned my head into my hands.

"Harry," Murphy was next to me in seconds, a comfortable presence at my side, "What's wrong? This is good news." Her voice trailed off, "And since the Formor started closing in, we haven't had that much good news."

"Something isn't right," I knotted my fingers in my hair, "This is all so sudden. I don't remember her dating anyone. Heck,- " I blurted out, "I don't even know the guy!"  
  
I saw Murphy's lips purse into a small frown, and her open hand flicked through the air as she leaned back into the couch. "You both live across the country from one another and maybe see each other once every couple years." she said sympathetically, "She has her own life, her own acquaintences, and I'm sure she doesn't tell you everything." After a moment she added, "Quite a lot like another certain," she emphasized the word, "Wizard, I know." Her voice pitched a little more mischievous and I felt her elbow playfully jab my ribs, "Secretive, paranoid, withholding information for a mere mortal's own good - starting to sound familiar?"

Through the gaps in my fingers, I looked at Murphy and gave her my most menacing glare.

"I'm serious! Something is going on! I'm worried!"

She rolled her eyes, and showed me the card. "Why would some nefarious enemy with some evil plan, go through the trouble of mailing out a - quite frankly phenomenally designed - invitation to the very man known for historically throwing wicked plans into disarray?"

I didn't have an answer to that. I looked at the card. It was printed on some nice stationary.   
"Harry, your sister is getting married."

* * *

  
Murphy had taken the wedding invitation with her to the opposite side of the house, presumably to RSVP without having to worry too much about my magic breaking her phone. Meanwhile I held my head in my hands staring at the ground, trying to make sense of what happened. My gigantic grey cat-a-saur-us, Mister, took the opportunity to wander over and rub against my ankles. I reached down to pet him under his ears, whilst doubts nagged at my mind.   
Why had Elaine not told me about this guy before? What kind of person was he anyways? Another wizard? A vanilla mortal? I felt a shiver that had nothing to do with winter shake me, Did she not trust me?  
  
That thought possibly hurt more than being blind-sighted.

You didn't tell her about Susan, my thoughts nagged at me.

"Yeah, well," I said out loud and to no one in particular, "It didn't come up."

Murphy's suppositions flooded back to me. Wizards were a secretive bunch. Maybe that was all this was.   
Then again, when was my life ever that simple. Maybe Elaine really was getting married, but on the off chance there was something spooky going on, I was going to find it and make it pay.

* * *

  
Murphy and I had arrived in Los Angeles two days in advance. We didn't travel by car or plane, instead I used my mother's knowledge of the ways to guide us there. I checked in with Carlos to give him a heads up that we were in town. After all, the last thing I needed was any more strange rumors about me circulating at the next White Council meeting. After checking into our hotel we stopped by the venue. 

It was a quaint place, and I was a little taken aback. The scene before me severely clashed with my evil-afoot-hypothesis. The main focus of the venue was the garden enclosed by the tall trees of an old forest. A wooden octagonal gazebo was painted white and evergreen colored vines snaked up its sides. It was spring, and flowers were abloom both on the gazebo and in ornate pots and the deep green bushes that surrounded the structure. Everything was so beautiful and full of life. It reminded me of Elaine. 

An old fountain sat off to the side, the pleasant sound of water trickling made the whole area seem a special kind of otherworldly peaceful. It was too perfect. I reached out for Murphy's hand and pulled her behind me. I headed towards the tree line, and stopped, extending my senses for anything magical. I felt nothing. 

My sudden behavior and worry was starting affect Murphy. She'd been perfectly at ease before, but now seemed to be getting a little tense. If I was right, she'd need that flash of adrenaline to keep us alive.

I reached into my pocket and took out a small box of ointment. It was a trinket Rashid had given me many years prior to aid in seeing through enchantments and veils. If this truly was the work of the fey, the ointment should be enough to see and detect, what my senses could not. I scooped some on to my finger, and smudged it under my eyes. I looked out upon the garden a second time. 

I felt my brows knit in confusion. Nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing! The flowering bushes, melodious fountain, and the enchanting gazebo remained exactly has they had before. I checked again, looking left and right, trying to spot anything. 

Finally I turned to Murphy and let out a tired sigh. She had her gun drawn and her eyes were alert. I touched her shoulder softly. "It's fine Karrin," I said, feeling exhausted, "There isn't anything here. No tricks, no faerie illusions, zilch."  
She didn't reply, just looked at me softly and with something akin to pity. 

* * *

  
We grabbed dinner and headed back to the hotel. 

Murphy sat on the edge of the king sized bed, her legs too short to reach the bottom. She swung them back and forth with nervous boredom. "Explain to me what you're doing. Some thaumaturgy magic thing- right?" she asked before grumbling to herself, "House keeping is not going to be happy about this."

I sat hunched over a circle I'd drawn in chalk on the vinyl tile flooring. "If I tell you, you won't like it." I straightened myself and slowly backed off the circle, careful not to smudge it. 

"Harry," she pestered, "You know I hate it when you hide things."

"Secrets are part of the job, Murph," I taunted through a grin, "And, speaking of secrets, I'm going to have to ask you to put these in." 

I tossed her a package, which she caught. 

She looked at me incredulously. "Earplugs?" I watched her shake her head confused, "Why?"  
My grin turned into a frown. "Because I'm going to summon a demon to get some information. And to do that I need to use its true name."

Her jaw went slack.

I continued, "I mean, I don't think you'd tell anyone. But true names are hard to come by. And, -" I searched an explanation because I didn't want her to be insulted that I still didn't like the idea of vanilla mortals knowing all of this, "Its just polite to not really spread their name out there like that."

She raised a hand as if needing a moment to pause. "Slow down Harry," she murmured, stumbling over her words. "Just wait a minute. Doesn't this fall under one of those 'Laws of Magic' rules?" she asked.

I raised a finger, "Ah! No, its - uh - similar, but not the same," my voice slipped into the intonations I used when teaching magic to Molly. " 'Binding another being against its will' is one of the laws. But technically," I wagged my finger in the air playfully, "I'm not going to do that." I took a breath before continuing, "I'm going to summon the demon, keep him trapped in a circle, and then offer him a deal for information. No subjugation of one's will, no harm, no foul."

"I swear to god Harry," her eyes rolled in annoyance, "She's getting married. I think you're taking all of this a little too far."

"Better safe than sorry," I said in a sing-songy voice. "Alright, I'm going to get started. Put your earplugs in. Scoot back on the bed. Don't move or say anything. And hells bells, do not under any circumstance break the circle."

* * *

  
Murphy elbowed me gently in the side. "Dresden," she whispered harshly, "You look miserable. Put a smile on and try to relax."  
  
I moved my facial muscle into the form I thought was a smile.  
  
Murphy threw her hands up, exasperated. "What am I going to do with you?" she grumbled. Despite her tone of voice, she looped my arm in hers, and lead me in the direction of the bar, presumably to get another beer.   
  
We were at a small casual gathering Elaine had planned, the night before the main ceremony. I looked around and I didn't see any faces I recognized. Some of the people in attendance gave of the air of a practitioner, others I couldn't sense anything from. I was in unfamiliar territory and my nerves were fraying at the edges as I my eyes darted across the room evaluating for any potential threats. When the temperature seemed to dip, Murphy folded her small hand over mind, and squeezed gently. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down, running through prime numbers in my head.

We reached the bar and while Murphy talked to the bartender, From the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar form approach. 

"Harry!" an excited voice cut through the crowd. A beautiful woman with long straw colored hair approached me, waving.

I turned, "Elaine," I replied.

She opened her arms for a hug, and I unhooked my arm from Murphy's to return it. On contact, I could feel the electric sensation that signified a practitioner of the arts, and 100 percent of it, all Elaine. Not even a magical wiff of any spell or enchantment.

Had Murphy been right? Had I suspected monsters where there were none to be found?   
We held each other for a moment before drawing away. Elaine's eyes looked a little pained, and a little filled with wonder as she looked at me. "I'm so happy you're here Harry," she said before she continued in a much lower voice, "I thought you were dead. I thought I'd never see you again." 

There was a silence when none of us spoke. Murphy finally turned, two beers in hand from the bartender, and she surveyed our interaction, waiting. 

Elaine's posture straightened and she looked back at me with a smile. "I'm glad I was wrong. And I'm sorry it took me a long time to reach out." She nodded almost to herself. "It has been a while since we last talked, we've got a lot of catching up to do. Let me introduce you to some of my friends and," her cheeks took on a pinkish tinge, "My fiance."

My tongue felt non-responsive, but I somehow managed to reply clearly, "I'd like that." I don't remember doing it consciously, but I felt the beginnings of a smile creep on my face. A real one, this time.  
  
Murphy passed me one of the beers and we followed Elaine together. The bride-to-be introduced me as: her friend and one of the co founders of the Paranet. Neither of us were comfortable admitting our familial relationship - that was a secret that could get both of us killed by the White Council if the wrong person heard.  
  
Elaine's friends were nice. Quite a few of them she met through her Paranet work, and I found that was actually a commonality that I could talk about without feeling like the awkward one out. She also introduced us to some of her cop friends on the local force. Murphy fit in well with that bunch and they swapped stories about their encounters with the supernatural. Somewhere in between I lost track of time, finished my beer, and started to relax.

After dozens of introductions, she steered off towards a group of guys circled around one another, laughing and chatting with one another. She gently touched one man's arm, and he turned his head to look at her in response. Delight shone on his face, and without being told, I knew this man was her fiance.   
  
The man said something to Elaine, then excused himself from his prior conversation. He strode over to me, an almost eagerness in his step, and held out his hand. I shook it. For almost a second our eyes almost made contact but I managed to look away before a soul-gaze could happen.  
  
"Harry," he said, his voice strong and warm. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," I replied.   
  
"I've heard so much about you."

"Really?" I shot a glance at Elaine, questioning. 

"Only good things," she chimed in.  
  
"So -uh,-" there was really no good way to ask, "How did you guys meet?"

The two of them shared a knowing look, before he began, "Well, if you can believe it, she saved me from a Troll about two years back." He smiled, "And I guess I've just been chasing after her ever since."

"He exaggerates," pouted Elaine, "He held his ground pretty well. I was impressed."

"Flatterer," he grinned, meeting her eyes. 

* * *

The day of the ceremony had come and gone in a blur. The weather was perfect, no supernatural forces attacked, and there were no nefarious machinations unveiled. Elaine looked stunning, and I felt the prior night's grin return to my face. The reception was equally lovely. The music played, there was an open bar, and I got to impress Karrin with my ballroom dance skills. At the end of the night Elaine and I exchanged one last hug, as Murphy and I bid her and her husband pleasantries. 

When we finally returned home, stepped through the gateway between the Nevernever and Chicago, and felt the way close behind us, I turned to Murphy. "I guess you were right," I said.

The side of her mouth twitched into a half smile.  
  
"There was no bad guy. No evil to be thwarted."  
  
Her grin grew a little.

"This time anyways," I sounded serious, so I let my voice take on a more whimsical tone, "It was just as you said, Elaine was simply getting married. I saw conspiracies where there were none."

"I wouldn't be so hard on yourself Harry," she laughed. "Paranoia for you, just comes with the job. And sometimes social things are just a blind spot for you. Besides, -" she let out a deep sigh, "With all the bad that has been happening, it is nice to finally be a part of something good." She smiled to herself.

"Yeah," I said, affirming her thoughts. "Yeah."  
  
For a second, Murphy's brows knitted and she frowned. "I hope you didn't give that demon you summoned anything worthwhile."

I groaned, remembering. "Don't remind me!"

Murphy shook her head in disbelief. "Wizards," she muttered.


End file.
